The U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin have been given the green light to go ahead with a $68 million plan to whip the troubled Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile Program (JASSM) into shape. However, the missile's long-term future is still in doubt. According to a July 19 document signed by outgoing Pentagon acquisition executive Ken Krieg, there is still no decision on the program's Nunn-McCurdy status. The $5.8 billion program exceeded Nunn-McCurdy cost growth limits for the second time in April, prompting a review process and blocking additional government funding.

The JASSM program began in 1998 with a plan to buy 2400 of the stealth cruise missiles, which initially had a 200-nautical-mile range. Since then, the Air Force has added 2500 extended-range versions of the missile to the order. The service already has 600 of the missiles and another 400 on order.
Air Force requirements changes sent costs skyward, upping the range to 500 miles and adding the selective availability anti-spoofing module to protect the GPS signal sent to the missiles. There have also been problems with navigation and reliability. Three of four missiles tested in Utah between April 30 and May 1 lost contact with GPS satellites and missed their targets by more than 200 miles. The fourth reached the target but did not detonate due to fuse problems. The loss of GPS signal, thought to be related to the placement of the anti-spoofing antenna, has not occurred in any other weapons, according to the Air Force.

The first phase of the JASSM rehabilitation program will be funded with $38 million by contractor, Lockheed Martin, as well as $30 million in existing government funds. Another $10 million will come from another government source to cover program management.

If all goes well, JASSM could be recertified in the second quarter of fiscal 2008. Should the first phase of JASSM program fixes not meet expectations, the service could instead go with the Navy's Boeing-built standoff land-attack missile expanded response, or a foreign missile.

RSS    Save to Del.icio.us  Digg This